Heights of Heaven
by Rei Ronin
Summary: News has just reached Ulrich from home...his old teacher has died. With an old friend present, and a martial arts competition coming up, will Ulrich be able to cope with things...especially with XANA waiting in the shadows?
1. Reunion: Part 1

Heights of Heaven

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A Code: Lyoko fanfiction

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A/N: I decided to take a few liberties with the ages of the characters, but this story takes place after episode 28.

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Odd yelped as a bladed foot came slashing in at his face just as he sat up from bed in the morning. Throwing himself backward as quickly as he could, he just barely avoided getting his nose broken, though the smell from the foot as it passed a centimeter from his nostrils wasn't really pleasant.

A loud thump rang out through the room as Ulrich followed through, eyes closed as he lunged forward in a kinetic-transfer amplified linear palm-strike…one that struck Odd's left shoulder as he rose to ask his friend what in the blue hells he was doing. The purple-loving boy flew back against the wall with a cry. Yep, it looked like drama was going to be the order of the day.

* * *

Ulrich was still apologizing when they came down to breakfast. Odd was trying to calm him down by saying that his shower had really soothed the bruised area, but it was obvious that Odd was favoring his left side. Jeremie and Aelita looked up as Ulrich and Odd approached with their trays.

"What happened to you, Odd?" asked Jeremie, confused as to why the spiky-haired member of the Lyoko gang was acting as if he had just been through a round with a street punk.

Odd grinned evilly at Ulrich, who sighed in despair and put his head down on the table. "Oh, Ulrich just knocked me into the wall with a palm-strike."

Ulrich raised his head a bit.

"Right after he nearly broke my nose with a crescent kick."

Ulrich's face met the table again. "I said I was sorry," he mumbled plaintively.

"Oh, I know," said Odd cheerfully, "And you're even forgiven. But you've got to be kidding me if you think that I'll give up a chance like this to torture you since I'm being nice and not bringing up Yumi."

Ulrich groaned. "I must have been very bad in a past life."

"Well, you did just knock Odd into the wall," replied Jeremie, starting in on the razzing of his friend, and eliciting another groan from Ulrich.

"_Ulrich-kohai?"_ asked a male voice in Japanese, which had Ulrich sitting up straight and spinning in his seat to look at the speaker, an older boy with long brown hair that was gathered into a ponytail. He didn't look particularly Japanese…in fact if one was forced to guess his ethnicity, they might give Roma…Gypsy…as the source of his blood. They wouldn't be incorrect either.

Yumi was standing next to the boy, who was dressed in dark gray and black, and giving Ulrich a look that clearly said: _'Who is this guy?'_

Ulrich took in a breath and answered in Japanese. _"Ker-sempai…nani koko tsukai ka?"_

The boy's face fell. _"Sore…sore sensei."_

"_Senpo…nai, ka?"_ asked Ulrich with mounting dread.

Ker nodded. _"Kitsu."_

"_Doushite?"_

Ker just shrugged. _"Senpou kikyuu."_ Like Ulrich, he was not one of many words, and he had not come to terms with his _sensei_'s death either, though it did explain the duffle the boy was carrying. Ulrich would bet two…no ten to one that it contained the heirloom swords of the school, along with the scrolls that held the school's secrets.

"Wait," said Yumi in French, the fact that Japanese was her first language letting her understand what the two were talking about effortlessly. "Your master just died, Ulrich?"

The green-clad boy nodded. "Yeah…just when I decided to start practicing again," he gave a little sniff. "Excuse me guys…_Ker-kun?_" He walked out with the long-haired boy.

Yumi sat down heavily in the seat that Ulrich had just vacated and looked at the others. They just looked back at her, as if expecting an explanation. She just looked at them blankly for a few minutes before getting up and walking out the door to follow those two.

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"_Are you going to be alright, Ker-kun?" _asked Ulrich, his eyes fairly dry. _"I know that he was like a father to you…"_

His old friend nodded. _"He was my father in all the ways that mattered. I got my crying done a while ago…I guess it helped that I was with him in the end…and Rachel-koishii's been a great help."_ Reaching into the duffel that now sat at the two boy's feet, he withdrew a trio of swords, all in mostly the same style.

Two had absolutely identical fittings and seemed to have the same blade length and curvature, a fact which Ulrich knew to be true. Kanesada and Muramasa, the twin heirloom blades of their style…Ker's swords, now. The other had olive green and gray fittings with iron composing the tsuba and fuchi kashira, outside of a brass habaki. It was that sword that Ker handed to Ulrich.

Balancing the sheathed weapon on both palms, Ulrich looked over it to Ker. _"Ker-kun…are you sure?"_

The long-haired boy nodded. _"It was his last work at the forge. I know he wanted you to have it. But enough of the past…how have you been, Ulrich-kun?"_

Ulrich's face twisted as he wondered how to answer that question. Could he trust his old friend with the secret of Lyoko? Yes…but he needed his word. _"Ker-kun, I need your word that you'll keep this secret."_

Ker nodded. _"Of course. I swear I will not betray your secret."_

Ulrich looked down at the katana in his hands and started to tell Ker about all that had happened with Lyoko.

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Yumi stayed hidden in the bushes a ways back from the two as Ulrich told his old friend of Lyoko. Obviously Ulrich trusted this Ker fellow quite a lot if he was so willing to tell the story after just getting him to swear to secrecy. She could tell fairly easily that the two of them had trained in martial arts together in the past…they were hardly trying to hide that, but she wished she knew more about that time. Shaking her head to clear it of her thoughts, she listened in more closely as Ulrich finished the story.

"_So…that's everything."_

She could see Ker nod. _"I see. You've been busy. I take it you were going to ask for my help?" _At Ulrich's nod, he continued. _"I'm not sure that I'll be able to do that, buddy."_ Sheathed blades in hand, he stood and started pacing. _"I've got to get back to Rachel-koishii…and only you and Yumi-san can speak Japanese…and I can't speak French. Besides, I'd mess up your group's chemistry for quite a while…I'd need an excuse to be here, and I've got my training to think of. I have to carry on the school as senior student."_

Yumi could almost feel Ulrich's frown. _"You're right, I guess. We just could have really used you, especially because I can tell you've only gotten better."_

"_I'm sorry, Ulrich-kun…but we all have our duties. I'll be here for a while…perhaps I can help get your skills back into shape, along with the others. It'd help with that martial arts tournament that you've entered, anyway."_

Ulrich looked up in surprise. _"How'd you know about that?"_

"_Blind luck,"_ admitted Ker, _"I just saw your name on the sign-up sheet as I was looking for you. I don't think your friends here know yet. Your father?" _he questioned.

Ulrich nodded. _"I didn't want to worry them…not after what happened last time."_

"_No man is an island, Ulrich-kun,"_ said Ker, then inclined his head towards his younger friend and walked away. _"I'll stop by later…I think your classes will be starting soon."_

Yumi glanced down at her watch. The long-haired boy was right. When she looked up, Ulrich was already jogging down the path. She followed him at a discreet distance.

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A/N: Well, that's that. Tell me what you think, good or bad. Oh, and the Japanese isn't likely to be perfectly accurate, so I'm not providing translations, but Yumi tells you basically what they were talking about. Don't worry, I'm not hiding any clues from you in it...yet, at least. And don't worry, Ker won't take over the plot. He's got his own stories to star in. He'll just stand by the side, letting you learn a bit more about him...and Ulrich's history.


	2. Reunion: Part 2

Heights of Heaven

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A Code: Lyoko fanfiction

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"So?" asked Odd of Ulrich as they got out of class, Jeremie and Aelita also watching the taciturn boy intently.

"So what?" replied Ulrich.

"Who was that guy this morning?" asked Odd for Aelita and Jeremie as well.

"He's…an old friend. Back before I came here I practiced martial arts at the same school as him. He was the senior student…now he's the master."

"Wait," said Jeremie, butting in, "I thought you said that your master died."

"He did," replied Ulrich, "So Ker's been elevated from senior student to master. He's certainly good enough, even if he is only nineteen."

Odd's eyebrows raised and he whistled. "Wow…there weren't any older students?"

"There weren't ANY other students," replied Ulrich. "It's a fairly unknown discipline…especially considering its power."

"What language was he speaking?" asked Aelita. "I know it was an Asian language, but he doesn't look Asian."

"He was speaking Japanese…which might as well be his first language. He's fluent in English but doesn't like it, and he doesn't speak French."

Odd laughed. "So…wait…you mean all those times that Yumi's cursed at us in Japanese, you've known exactly what she was saying? All those times she just decided to speak in it just so we couldn't tell what she was saying, you knew?"

"Yeah…" said Ulrich, "But she knew that I knew."

"So," asked Jeremie, "How long is he staying?"

"I wouldn't think more than a couple of weeks," said Ulrich. "He's got things of his own to do. Look, I'm going to skip lunch…I've still got some catching up to do with him."

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"_TSIAH!"_

Ulrich's face screwed up into a grimace as he took the same technique that he had accidentally landed on Odd that morning to the side of the chest…thankfully not on his centerline, where the penetrative force of the blow could have stopped his heart, or, had Ker manipulated the force another way, shattered his ribcage. Actually, the attack didn't do much damage to him, even as it sent him skidding backwards a few feet, a testament to his old friend's skill and control. _"Ow. How the hell did you get this good?"_

Ker took a new stance not unlike something out of the Wing Chun playbook, and Ulrich countered by assuming a very conservative defensive attitude. _"I've not stopped my practice…I've been studying since you left…and I was better than you before. With you backsliding, is it really a surprise? Come on, Ulrich-kun…where's the talented kid I knew?"_

"_Coming at you!"_ Ulrich abandoned his defensive posture for a crescent kick at Ker's head…and only then realized what his friend had goaded him into as he felt more than saw Ker's hand's divert his attack, then spin him violently to the ground. "_Ow again…I took that one hook, line, and sinker. Ah!"_

Ker smirked down at where Ulrich had just rolled out of the way of a stomp kick aimed at his sternum. _"An opponent in a real fight doesn't let up just because you're on the ground."_

Ulrich rolled backwards and to his feet. _"I could have sworn this was a spar."_ He threw a punch at the older boy, intending for it to be only the first part of a combo.

It never came to that, as Ker snatched his hand and forced him to the ground with a twirling series of joint locks that started at the wrist and went down to his shoulder. _"And so it is. You'd either be out cold or dead by now if it was a fight by our definitions. I'm just reminding you of a few lessons that you seem to have forgotten."_ Ker's free fist rapped against Ulrich's exposed temple in reminder of what the classic finish to that move was…a hammerfist that killed or knocked out, and a stomp that shattered one of the opponent's feet.

Ulrich climbed to his feet and shook himself back out as Ker released him and backed off a bit. _"Right…most of my fighting has been in Lyoko recently, and it's got some obscure rules that I guess have been getting to my head on the part of the monsters."_ The younger boy fixed his gaze on his opponent's solar plexus as he let his peripheral vision to go into soft focus, letting him have the best view of his opponent at any range.

"_I wouldn't expect your opponents in the real world to show the same behavior. Mixed martial arts tournaments toss Marquis of Queensbury rules out the window…and you're going to see it even less from street punk. Do you at least remember defense?"_ Ker unloaded a flurry of punches that Ulrich did his best to block, though a number of the strikes seemed to flow through the guard to impact on Ulrich's centerline.

"_Not as well as I thought,"_ replied Ulrich, somewhat shakily as he retreated under the hail of punches. Suddenly, he thought he saw a flaw in Ker's routine and disrupted it…

* * *

"Wow," commented Odd, "Ulrich is getting himself thrashed. Wait! I think he got him! Go Ulrich!" he cheered as Ulrich threw Ker over his back and to the ground, where he spun and dropped to straddle his old friend while throwing a phoenix-eye punch at the long-haired boy's face.

Yumi was familiar with that move…in fact, she had used in a sparring match against Ulrich on the first day that Odd had come to Kadic. Of course, she had just held Ulrich down while staring at him and blushing, but that wasn't the point. The point was, Ker's fall looked WAY too controlled. "Maybe not…yeah, there he goes."

As Yumi said that, Ker's right arm drove his palm into Ulrich's chest as his legs did something the Japanese girl didn't quite catch. The upshot was that Ulrich was knocked off of the older boy and into the air a ways, where he landed on his front. The somber boy instantly tried to get up, but felt the gentle pressure of the elder's elbow against his neck.

Watching as the two of them got up and bowed to each other, she felt a rush of nostalgia for the days when she had been the one that sparred with Ulrich. As school and XANA had intensified, they had gotten less and less chances, eventually just stopping all together…she wondered what he would say if she brought up the idea of starting again?

"Too bad we can't get him to join us for Lyoko," mused Odd. "He'd rip through XANA's monsters like a blowtorch through butter."

"Don't you mean a hot knife, Odd?" asked Jeremie with a long-suffering tone.

"Nah, Einstein, a hot knife wouldn't be fast enough. I mean, we all know that Ulrich is one of, if not the best martial artist in the school. I still think he LET Yumi throw him around." He gave a big, 180-proof Odd smile.

Yumi flushed. "He did not! We trained seriously!"

Odd laughed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. But even if Ulrich wasn't using those spars as a excuse to get a little closer to Ms. Egyptian here, he's pretty damn good, isn't he?"

Jeremie frowned. "There's no denying that…"

Aelita glanced at Odd. "I thought Yumi was from Japan…"

"I am," she interjected.

"Well, Princess, I'm just thinking that she's living at least byde Nile, if not in it." He burst out laughing.

Yumi gave him an unamused look. "Odd, if we're talking rivers, you might want to keep in mind that I trained with Ulrich and back in Japan. That makes me more of an Amazon." She smirked evilly and advanced on him, clapping one fist into her open palm as she walked towards him.

Odd yelped jokingly and pretended to run away. Jeremie continued to regard the long-haired boy. "Well," the French boy meditated, "Even if he could stay here, could we trust him with the secret?"

Yumi looked over at him in surprise. "Ulrich does."

Jeremie's head snapped over to her. "What did you say!"

Yumi knew that she was going to regret having revealed that. Still, there was nothing she could do now. "Ulrich already told him…he had him swear to secrecy, Jeremie."

Her words didn't register with the blonde. Jeremie stormed off, obviously more than a little upset. Aelita, Odd, and Yumi looked incredulously at each other. What had gotten into Jeremie?

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A/N: I feel somewhat sad. Nearly 55 hits and only two reviews? I know I don't beg for them, but they are helpful for figuring out what I'm doing wrong, and what I'm doing right. They let me make the story better…so help me out here…please? Just drop me a review…tell me what you like, and what you don't like. I'm not going to put a number of reviews I have to receive before I write another chapter, but please show me I'm not just getting a few clicks and less people actually reading this. 


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